


Fearshee

by summarized



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, And Loki, M/M, Michelle Jones - Freeform, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Not Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Mid-Credits Scene Compliant, brief james "bucky" barnes/loki, mentions of Ned Leeds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 23:23:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16464302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summarized/pseuds/summarized
Summary: the avengers have their own banshee... sort of.and yes, it came at a cost.





	Fearshee

**Author's Note:**

> this story has creative liberties regarding irish folklore and is written like the posts you may find on blogs or wikis. consider yourself informed and thank you if you still continued to read this work.

**Recently**...

The Avengers, strongly suspect that a banshee is signaling the deaths of those around them.

(Michelle likes to point out that the aos sí can be 'fear' and not just 'bean'. Or perhaps even neither because who knows which parts of the stories are accurate.)

This idea comes after the team or anyone involved hears a terrible screaming some time before any mission. If not the screams, there is talk of a frail looking youth with fair hair seen washing clothes nearby. The latter is particularly chilling as the locations are often remote or unsafe for anyone to be wandering alone in. A few survivors are driven mad when they recall that the tears and stains on the clothes of the deceased are exactly like that on the ones the washer had been handling.

Though only the bad guys are being targeted thus far, the Avengers and their allies remain weary.

Michelle, of course, is proven right. The supposed 'woman of the fairies' is actually a man. A 'fearshee'.

What's most surprising, however, is that it's the soul of the late Steven Grant Rogers.

 

**Two years ago**...

In Ireland, the Avengers encounter the Fae while trying to go after a Hydra cell. the Fae, having disposed of the threat on their own before the team even get there, cast their attention onto the heroes. A spell is placed on each that sends them into a dream state. As consequence they find themselves in a forest where hundreds of people are walking back and forth. The only way out is when they recognize the 'person or persons they love above all others'. Everyone awakes up except for Steve.

As Rogers sleeps, the team make their way to Strange's sanctum. Strange is hard pressed to find a solution as there seems to be no way to break the spell. He then notices that Bucky Barnes is not present and has not been made aware of the situation. The doctor senses the Avengers' reluctance to get Barnes involved, though they refuse to explain why.

Thinking that sending Bucky into Steve's dream state would be enough to help him snap out of it, Strange asks Wong to find him. However, Wong disagrees with the plan as he is aware that Bucky is now living in New Asgard (located in Norway where Mjolnir had been destroyed) and appears to be Loki's consort.

Natasha and Sam eventually admit that the two supersoldiers had a severe falling out after Bucky's affair with Loki had been exposed. Apparently, Bucky lied about having remembered being Steve's lover and bestfriend despite having recovered most of his other memories. Overall, Bucky was unhappy and sought comfort elsewhere. Steve, although loving and faithful, was unable to appease Bucky and didn't fully comprehend what he was going through and was often away for work. This incident didn't bode well with the rest of the Avengers. Thor chose to side with his brother while the others stood by their captain.

Rogers, heartbroken, hasn't been the same since. A part of him has grown harder and colder. He's managed to maintain his relationship with his friends but it makes them feel sad that he's changed.

To make matters worse it seems Bucky hasn't bothered himself with anything regarding Steve Rogers since separating.

But even with that in mind, everyone is left confused as the spell indicated _'you'_ had to find the one _'you_ _love'_ not the other way around. If that was the case then surely Steve would have woken up by now for, even after everything, they all know he still loves Bucky.

The Good Folk never lie but they can twist their words, tell half-truths and find any loophole to use to their advantage. A fact of which worries Strange.

Still determined to fix things, Strange decides to try and converse with the Fae and encourages Wong to go to New Asgard like originally planned.

Meanwhile, back at the sanctum, Wanda is wading her way into Steve's dream in an attempt to coax him out. She finds herself not in the forest but in 1930s Brooklyn inside Steve's old home. It seems to be a memory of one of the few times Steve wasn't too burdened by his various ailments and was able to spend quality time with his mother Sarah and, of course, Bucky. Before she can do anything else Wanda is thrust back out to the real world in time to see Bucky, Thor and Loki walk in.

Ignoring the fury at their arrival, Bucky assures them that they're here to help. This doesn't placate anybody and neither does Loki's claim that after examining Steve there is no hope of a cure as 'the Fae had obviously had a firm grasp on him from the beginning'.

Everybody starts arguing and blaiming one another until Steve's body begins to deteriorate. Tony decides to take him to Wakanda, believing Shuri has a better shot at helping him. Strange manages to find them there and corroborates Loki's finding.

According to the Folk, they had _'known_ _of_ _the_ _heroes_ _the_ _moment_ _they_ _set_ _foot_ _on_ _their_ _land'_ and had known that _'the ones they love above all others also love them back just as much'_. If no one can be found the bespelled person will pass on by the next sunset for _'what good is it to just give and only give'_. They also reveal that Steve was never sent to the _'forest'_ but to _'the moments when he was most happiest'_.

It's a harsh blow as the group realises that, while they care deeply for Steve, at the end of the day there are others who are more important to them.

Shuri and Tony try to come up with another way of saving Steve which leads them to an argument with Strange, who warns them not to confuse his resignation for apathy. Shockingly, Bruce sides with the sorcerer believing that at least in death Steve's suffering will be over.

Left with no other options they linger near the captain's bedside and wait for the inevitable. By nightfall, Steve's heart stops and his body reverts back to it's original state.

Upon seeing Steve without the effects of the serum, Bucky is suddenly hit with a wave of guilt and cries as he cradles his former beloved.

Steve is buried next to his parents in Brooklyn. Bucky and the Odinson siblings were barely allowed to attend the funeral.

The team carries on and slowly make their way to some semblance of normalcy. All seems well until around the end of october (the first halloween after Steve's death) when the unsual events start to take place.

 

**All Hallows'**...

Bucky has a nightmare about a young Stevie appearing beaten and bloody as Bucky comes across him in an empty alley. His eyes are red, possibly from crying. Bucky tries to approach him until Steve suddenly screams. Bucky jolts awake and is unable to go back to sleep.

A few days later, Peter talks about how a rogue Asgardian died during the raid of an underground weapons lab. It's rumoured that he and his comrades were trying to start a coup. Witnesses claim to have heard a 'weird three part shrieking'.

The first appearance of the washer is on the day SHIELD takes down a Hydra safe house in rural England. A surviving agent says those who were killed are the ones who tried to get rid of a young man they spotted cleaning tactical gear by the stream. A captured scientist keeps muttering 'the gear is the same, the blood is the same'.

Other similar incidents are reported. People either hear the screams or see the washer. An attack later follows and some of the bad guys are killed.

(Ned records all of the accounts available with great interest. He and Michelle are the ones who notice that what all the cases have in common is the presence of the Avengers or anybody associated with them.)

 

**Familiar face**...

Weeks later, Peter vouches to get Bucky back into the Avengers' good graces. Parker tries to convince Stark but Bucky is immediately rebuffed.

Sam calmly takes Bucky aside and explains that the team has concerns. Last time they checked, Barnes wanted nothing to do with avenging and Sam asks him straight if it's because of his break up. Bucky confesses that that's a contributor but he also adds that he just feels he can no longer stay on the sidelines. He doesn't know the reasons entirely but this is just something he has to do. Sam cautions Bucky that even if the team lets him in he won't have the freedom he once had while living in N.A. He'll be put under a microscope and Sam has little doubt that the guys may never fully trust Barnes again. Bucky understands but has made up his mind.

As predicted, Bucky is scrutinized at almost every turn. Natasha, Clint and Tony are not afraid to show their disdain of him. Nonetheless, Bucky holds firm and is able to work well enough with the rest of the team.

In several months of working together, Bucky gradually opens up to his teammates. He confesses he started remembering his early years with Steve long after he settled down in N.A. Bucky guesses, that without Steve's expectations pressuring him, they began popping up. He and Loki were happy, but their problems only ever came about when Bucky admitted what was going on with his memories. Bucky tried to assure otherwise, but Loki constantly feared that Bucky's feelings for Steve would also resurface and that he would leave once it did. The more Bucky remembered the more anxious Loki became. They often fought and it didn't help matters that Bucky would sometimes compare the two. They grew distant and were living separately towards the end of their relationship. Bucky then had his 'hurt Steve' dream and decided to return to America and join the Avengers.

Old memories were able to do what snide comments and gossip could not (it was not unknown to the Asgardians that Bucky left another man to be with a prince).

According to Scott nobody feels bad about Barnes' break up but, needless to say, everybody is disappointed that it came to be like this.

T'Challa wonders what would've happened if Bucky and Steve had worked things out in time. Or if things would have still ended up the way it did if not worse.

Of all people, it's Thor who sees that the fearshee is indeed Steve. Thor hears the keening and at first doesn't think it's the same being as it sounds mournful instead of vengeful like it usually does. But after the battle, Thor sees Steve (pale and small) standing on the side of the road. Thor tells the others but they pay him no mind. This particular skirmish does not end well as the enemy escapes and have far fewer casualties.

It's not until when Wanda sees Steve that they take the sighting seriously. She is walking along the beach when she notices a boy attempting to beat clothes against the rocks. She goes to rebuke him but is distracted by the blood washing away. When the boy's face becomes visible it's Steve. The fearshee gives her a small smile before going about his business. Stunned, Wanda can only stare as he says out the names of those who are about to die. Wanda recognizes some of them and tries to give warning. Not everybody takes her seriously but in the end it matters little as the aforementioned people still pass on. This is when the team realizes that even they are not immune from the fearshee's summoning.

 

**Continue**...

Life goes on. You don't stop avenging just because an omen of death is following you around. Although not a thing to be taken lightly, the Avengers are oddly comforted that Steve is still with them in some capacity. They acknowledge, however, that he won't always bring good news for them.

Bucky suddenly remembers that when he was seven he overheard a neighbor accuse Steve of being a 'changeling'. From the way she said it, Bucky isn't completely sure if the old lady was joking or not.

Maybe...


End file.
